Music – Page 2 – rgbFilter

Microsoft expanding Zune Services internationally

September 21, 2010September 24, 2010 Doug Groves Microsoft, MP3, press release, Windows Phone 7, Xbox, Xbox Live, Zune, Zune Pass7 Comments

With Windows Phone 7 just around the corner, it’s no surprise that Microsoft finally announced their first round of international expansion of the Zune service, providing digital entertainment services to more than 20 countries. Not all countries are created equal however. The much vaunted Zune Pass will be available in the UK, France, Italy and Spain, for 9.99 euros. The Zune pass allows users to have unlimited access to the Zune music library from Windows PCs, Windows Phone 7 and Xbox Live. Unlike the US version, which costs $14.99 US,…

Arts Music

Cyber-Steam Punk Magic Scanner Lantern

September 21, 2010September 23, 2010 Pete Chapman Branchage Film Festival, Magic Lantern, Robin Rimbaud, steampunk1 Comment

If you’re not tired of film festivals and you happen to be on the Isle of Jersey between September 23 to 26 you may want to check out the Branchage Film Festival. A lively event that uses the island’s single Cineworld cineplex and 17 other venues (churches, nightclubs, the Opera House, the Polytunnel (a greenhouse), a “horse-box” trailer and a Sushi bar) as screening/performance venues for a variety of feature films, shorts, documentaries and live music soundtracks. That last item appears to be one of the specialties of the festival….

Fan Expo 2010 – Snakor’s Pizza Interview

September 17, 2010September 20, 2010 Doug Groves Arcana Comics, Comic, Fan Expo, Fan Expo 2010, interview, Kody Peters, Sean Jordan, Show, Snakors Pizza, webcomic, Wordburglar3 Comments

What happens when your bid to take over the world fails, and despite your scaly visage, you’re just not good at being evil? Get into the pizza business, of course. That’s the premise to the comic Snakor’s Pizza, about a wannabe super villain who has to turn to a more practical career choice when his dream dies. Peter talks with writer Sean (SJ) Jordan (aka The Wordburglar) and artist Kody Peters about ideas behind the comic and their influences. While available in print, you can get a taste of it…

Bell Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant Launch Concert featuring Metric

August 17, 2010August 17, 2010 drsquid Android, Android 2.1, Bell, canada, Captivate, concert, event, Galaxy S, launch, Metric, Rogers, smartphone, Super AMOLED, superphone, Toronto, Vibrant8 Comments

Wednesday August 4th: I am running late, so I’m pushing my way through the huge crowd that has gathered on Toronto’s Front Street to see a free Metric concert sponsored by Samsung. I want to get as close to the stage as possible to cover the show, but I have no idea how I’ll be able to maneuver through the crowd to get there. Thankfully there’s a fenced off VIP area that I have press access to, so in the end I manage to get some great pictures of the…

A Life Well Wasted, gaming radio done right

July 26, 2010July 26, 2010 drsquid A Life Well Wasted, ALWW, blogger, Gaming, NYU, Olly Moss, Podcast, Radio, Robert Ashley, Tetris1 Comment

A Life Well Wasted is the brainchild of former Computer Gaming World, Game for Windows Magazine contributor, and member of the legendary 1up GFW Radio podcast (you can find a ‘best of’ here), Robert Ashley. After the demise of the ‘old’ 1up, and the end of GFW Radio, he decided to continue keep that show’s legacy and high-standards, alive by producing his own podcast. However, unlike GFW Radio, A Life Well Wasted is not a roundtable discussion style show, but more akin to the kind of radio shows found on…

Alan Moore Interview at The Quietus

July 15, 2010 Doug Groves Alan Moore, Lex Records, Magic, Quietus, Stool Pigeon, Unearthing, V for Vendetta, watchmen1 Comment

Alan Moore certainly doesn’t need an introduction to readers of RGB Filter. The prolific and literary comics writer who altered the superhero landscape with Watchmen almost 25 years ago, and continues to push the boundaries to this day. The Quietus has put online an interview with Alan Moore that originally ran in their sister publication The Stool Pigeon. The interview is a great read, that goes wide afield from the typical comic interview, and I highly recommend it. Everybody is becoming [a superhero]. In the past I’ve tried to say,…

Flying saucer on Roswell ranch captures international imagination

July 8, 2010 Doug Groves Aliens, cover up, i want to believe, pop culture, Project Mogul, Roswell, weather balloon6 Comments

It was 63 years ago today, on July 8th 1947, that the Roswell Daily Record ran the headline “RAAF Captures Flying Saucer On Ranch in Roswell Region”, which launched the most well-known UFO ‘cover up’ in modern history. Subsequently, the crash was attributed to that of a Project Mogul balloon loaded with crash test dummies and designed to detect Soviet atomic test blasts. Of course, one has to wonder why there would be crash test dummies on what’s supposed to be a high altitude, unmanned balloon, but outside of that…

NXNE daily dispatch

June 17, 2010June 17, 2010 Doug Groves Mudhoney, NXNE, NXNE 2010, This Movie Is Broken, X1 Comment

There’s so much to see at NXNE that it’s hard to pick and choose, so here’s a daily look at what’s happening. Starting with the free stuff, NXPO is a free-to-the-public music-lifestyle exposition which includes a daystage, vendors, and a bar, the latter not free, is open the 17th and 18th from noon to 8pm at the Hyatt Regency Toronto – 370 King St. W. The free Yonge-Dundas Square shows start at 6pm today, and include headliners Mudhoney at 9pm, and So-Cal punk legends X at 10pm.

Rock Band 3: Rock Out with your Natural Talent Out

June 17, 2010June 17, 2010 Danny X DS, harmonix, MIDI, Playstation, PS3, RB3, rock band, Rock Band 3, Squier Stratocaster, Wii, Xbox 3601 Comment

Remember when Rock Band first arrived on the scene? It, along with the venerable classic Guitar Hero, proved that it is possible to get up off the couch and interact with a game in a way that no Wiimote could ever hope to deliver. And the world lost its friggin’ mind. Suddenly people who had no interest in gaming had a way to channel their inner rock star without feeling like some pimply-faced teen or the pressure to be Teh Pwnerer; it was just a fun piece of kit that…

NXNE 2010 kicks into gear

June 15, 2010 Doug Groves Film, Iggy And The Stooges, interactive, Music, North By Northwest, NXNE, NXNE 2010, NXNEi, Toronto2 Comments

It was a different world when Toronto’s NXNE (North By Northwest don’t you know) started out in 1994 as a music festival, based on the model by sister event SXSW (South By Southwest, natch). Even in the early days, NXNE was an ambitious affair with dozens of venues and enough bands, and music lovers, to fill them up. Since then the festival has grown and evolved, adding the film component in 2001, and most recently introducing NXNE interactive. Although nothing so big is expected here, it was at SXSW interactive…

Attend SXSW virtually

March 9, 2010 Doug Groves festival, SXSW, torrent1 Comment

Every spring, the SXSW music festival invades Austin Texas. In the early days, it was purely a musical affair, but since then has also grown to include both film and interactive festivals that run more or less concurrently. Twitter, for example, launched at SXSE interactive in 2007. As part of it’s musical side, artists both new and established have made MP3s available free to download from the SXSE website. In more recent years those files have been compiled by the public into a huge repository of RIAA safe torrent files….

Telus first Canadian mobile carrier to do DRM-free music

February 10, 2010 Doug Groves digital download, DRM, Music, OTA, Telus1 Comment

I haven’t looked at buying music from a mobile device in a long while, but would have figured that DRM free was now de rigueur. Apparently not for purchasing over the air on your phone, at least in Canada. Telus has announced today that they have launched a DRM-free over the air (OTA) service. In short, as a Telus customer, you’ll be able to buy music directly on your phone (with free 30 second previews). Once you have it there, since you’re free of those pesky rights management issues you…